Inspired by: Where The Forest Meets The Sea - Week 1

The educational materials provided delve into the nuances of storytelling and the impact of verb tenses on narrative engagement. In the first activity, "My Father Knew A Place," students are encouraged to explore the use of present tense in literature. The narrative in question is written in the present tense, which serves to immerse the reader deeply into the unfolding story, creating an immediate and vivid experience. The lesson prompts students to consider the reasons behind the author's choice of tense and its effect on the narrative. By comparing sentences written in present and past tense, learners can observe the changes in tone and immediacy. Additionally, the name of the boat in the story, "Time Machine," prompts a discussion about its symbolic significance and how it might relate to the journey between the present and other temporal realms.

In the second activity, "Into The Forest," students are tasked with creating settings, characters, and plot. The narrative follows a boy's adventure into the forest where he encounters a colony of black flying foxes. After watching a video about these creatures, students make notes on the boy's observations and are then asked to role-play his account to his father, highlighting his initial fear and subsequent fascination. The father's knowledgeable response about the bats' vegetarian nature adds depth to the story. This activity also includes writing an account of the boy's experience, reinforcing the narrative skills being developed. Finally, in "Scene Today," students address the use of Standard English versus local spoken forms, as illustrated in the dialogue between the boy and his father. They are also introduced to the non-standard English used in Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and challenged to rewrite a section in Standard English, thereby enhancing their understanding of language and its variations in literature.